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Vol. 148, No. 1 — January 1, 2014

Registration

SOR/2013-238 December 13, 2013

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS MARKETING ACT

New Brunswick Blueberry Order

P.C. 2013-1361 December 12, 2013

His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, pursuant to section 2
(see footnote a) of the Agricultural Products Marketing Act(see footnote b), makes the annexed New Brunswick Blueberry Order.

NEW BRUNSWICK BLUEBERRY ORDER

INTERPRETATION

1. The following definitions apply in this Order.

“Act” means the Natural Products Act, S.N.B. 1999, c. N-1.2. (Loi)

“blueberries” means blueberries that are produced in New Brunswick. (bleuets)

“Supervisory Board” means the New Brunswick Farm Products Commission continued by the Act. (Organisme de surveillance)

INTERPROVINCIAL AND EXPORT TRADE

2. The Commodity Board and the Supervisory Board are authorized to regulate the marketing of blueberries in interprovincial and export trade and, for that purpose, with respect to persons and property situated within New Brunswick, to exercise all or any powers like the powers exercisable by them in relation to the marketing of blueberries locally within the province under the Act.

LEVIES AND CHARGES

3. The Commodity Board and the Supervisory Board, in relation to the powers granted to them by section 2 with respect to interprovincial and export trade, are authorized to

(a) fix, impose and collect levies or charges from persons within New Brunswick who are engaged in the production or marketing of blueberries and, for those purposes, to classify those persons into groups and fix the levies or charges payable by the members of the different groups in different amounts; and

(b) use the levies or charges for their purposes, including the creation of reserves, the payment of expenses and losses resulting from the sale or disposal of any blueberries and the equalization or adjustment among blueberry producers of money realized from the sale of blueberries during any period that they may determine.

COMING INTO FORCE

4. This Order comes into force on the day on which it is registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Order.)

Issues and objectives

The Agricultural Products Marketing Act (APMA), which was enacted in 1949, facilitates interprovincial and export trade by authorizing provincial commodity boards
(see footnote 1) to regulate the marketing
(see footnote 2) of commodities in interprovincial and export trade markets to the same extent that they regulate marketing in intraprovincial trade (e.g. the collection of levies and charges and/or any other marketing activity for which the commodity board has been delegated the powers by their respective provincial government).

The New Brunswick Blueberry Order is needed to facilitate interprovincial and export trade, by extending the same powers that Bleuets NB Blueberries (commodity board) currently exercises within its province in intraprovincial trade. Currently, the commodity board requesting a delegation order cannot benefit from the delegated authority that facilitates interprovincial and export trade.

The granting of a New Brunswick Blueberry Order under the APMA will allow the commodity board to apply the provisions set out in the provincial marketing scheme in interprovincial and export trade markets. The New Brunswick Blueberry Order will also provide greater funding to the commodity board by allowing the collection of levies and charges in interprovincial and export trade that will allow them to broaden the collective services, which will include

national and international marketing promotion of their product(s);

broadening research capacities (e.g. pest and disease control); and

research to promote the health benefits of their commodity product.

Furthermore, it is anticipated that the revenue of the commodity board will increase as a result of being able to collect levies on product(s) sold on the interprovincial and export trade market.

The objectives of this regulatory action are to

strengthen and expand the commodity boards’ authority (e.g. formalizing the requirement that producers follow the prescribed requirements currently set out in their existing provincial marketing plan) that will regulate the interprovincial and export trade of their commodity; and

allow for the collection of levies and charges in interprovincial and export trade to the same extent as those collected for intraprovincial trade.

Producers will be required to comply with the provisions as set out in their existing provincial marketing plan for all transactions in intraprovincial trade (e.g. all persons engaged in the production of commodities to register with a commodity board, to pay registration fees and charges for services rendered by a commodity board, to pay a levy, and to pay penalties). In turn, the provisions set out in their provincial marketing plan will apply to transactions in interprovincial and export trade.

Description and rationale

Bleuets NB Blueberries is the industry organization representing New Brunswick blueberry producers. They work closely with producers, processors, industry groups and other provincial producer organizations to support promotion and research that contribute to improved production and marketing opportunities.

The objectives of the commodity board are

To provide services to New Brunswick producers including opportunities for accessing information, representation in industry organizations and working groups, and support and development of policies in the best interest of producers.

To support research that encourages good cultural practices, improved management and sustainability of blueberry production.

To support promotion programs that result in increased marketing opportunities for New Brunswick producers.

The New Brunswick Blueberry Order will allow the commodity board to reach their objectives and

regulate the marketing of agricultural products under their responsibility in interprovincial and export trade to the same extent that they regulate marketing in intraprovincial trade;

impose and collect levies and charges on products moving in interprovincial and export trade at the same level as levies and charges imposed on intraprovincial trade;

the levies and charges will be applied on persons within New Brunswick who are engaged in the production or marketing of blueberries;

the levies and charges will be charged at $0.008 per pound of blueberries produced or marketed in interprovincial and export trade. This is the same amount as the one being applied in intraprovincial trade;

the levies and charges will serve to create reserves, pay for expenses or losses that are a direct result of the sale or disposal of blueberries. It will also serve for the equalization or adjustment of money realized by producers for the sale of the product as determined by the commodity board or the supervisory board.

The New Brunswick Blueberry Order will

result in an improved provincial collective marketing scheme in interprovincial and export trade markets for all producers, particularly for those who mostly sell their commodity products outside the province;

not be granted to a commodity board if they do not have some power of regulating already granted to them by their provincial government as stated in subsection 2(1) of the Agricultural Products Marketing Act; and

not impact the national marketing approach of commodities as all levies and charges collected, whether for intraprovincial or for interprovincial and export trade, would remain the same and would be charged to the producers.

The New Brunswick Blueberry Order will ensure the fair and equitable collection of funds for the interprovincial and export trade portion of the commodity boards’ business. The New Brunswick Blueberry Order will apply to the designated product(s) moving in interprovincial and export trade.

It is important to note that this proposal will not create any new powers for commodity boards beyond providing them with the powers in interprovincial and export trade that they currently possess in intraprovincial trade. Federal delegation orders are not granted to a commodity board if they did not already have some power of regulating already granted to them by their provincial government as stated in subsection 2(1) of the Agricultural Products Marketing Act.

Currently, 82 delegation orders have been delegated to provincial commodity boards and all operate under a provincial marketing plan. This regulatory proposal will encourage interprovincial and export trade, by extending the existing powers that the commodity board currently exercises within the province.

Consultation

The commodity board received 100% of the support of producers during their annual meeting. The provincial supervisory board and provincial Department of Agriculture were also consulted and fully support this initiative. This regulatory proposal will not alter the current regulatory approval process for putting in place a delegation order or making any amendments thereto.

This regulatory proposal is not controversial in nature. No groups, organizations or individuals have opposed any new orders made pursuant to the APMA in the past. In the last six years, consultations regarding the APMA have also proven to be very positive.

The proposed Order was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on April 27, 2013, followed by a comment period of 30 days. No comments were received.

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to this proposal, as there is no change in administrative costs to business.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to this proposal, as there are no costs on small business.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

The commodity board is responsible for the administration of the New Brunswick Blueberry Order and, therefore, must comply with the requirements of the Act, in subsection 2(1), which states the following: “The Governor in Council may, by order, grant authority to any board or agency authorized under the law of any province to exercise powers of regulation in relation to the marketing of any agricultural product locally within the province, to regulate the marketing of that agricultural product in interprovincial and export trade and for those purposes to exercise all or any powers like the powers exercisable by the board or agency in relation to the marketing of that agricultural product locally within the province.”

The commodity board will set the levy and charges amount for the upcoming year and approve any changes to their provincial regulations during their annual meeting. Amendments are voted on by producers and are implemented by the commodity board for that year. The information regarding these changes is then disseminated in various ways to ensure compliance information is available with such orders (e.g. publication in provincial gazette and/or approval of orders by a supervisory board and/or publication of information in their newsletter and/or on the commodity board’s Web site).

Secondary contact

Footnote 1Commodity board (created under provincial laws) means an organization created by producers to market their products that are funded by the producers of those crops. The leadership and strategies of the commodity boards are set through votes by the producers. They also fund other ventures beneficial to their members, such as research.